BNP Paribas Acquires New Holdings in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC)

BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:YUMC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Yum China by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 56,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,794,000 after buying an additional 8,101 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Yum China during the 4th quarter worth about $31,836,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum China in the fourth quarter valued at about $809,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum China during the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Yum China in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $746,000. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum China Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUMC traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.44. 1,626,850 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,930,270. Yum China Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.50 and a 12 month high of $53.99. The company's 50 day moving average price is $47.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.27.

Yum China (NYSE:YUMC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). Yum China had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Yum China's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Yum China Holdings, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum China Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Yum China's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum China news, insider Jeff Kuai sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.21, for a total transaction of $188,019.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 56,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,728,782.42. This represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Leila Zhang sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.59, for a total transaction of $202,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 52,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,634,474.25. The trade was a 7.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,152 shares of company stock worth $2,242,176 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on YUMC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yum China from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Daiwa America upgraded Yum China to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.70.

Yum China Company Profile

Yum China Holdings, Inc owns, operates, and franchises restaurants in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through KFC, Pizza Hut, and All Other segments. It operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Lavazza, Little Sheep, and Huang Ji Huang concepts. The company also operates V-Gold Mall, a mobile e-commerce platform to sell products; and offers online food deliver services.